Facebook Instagram Youtube Twitter

Critical Pressure of Water

Phase diagram of water
Phase diagram of water.
Source: wikipedia.org CC BY-SA

At pressure that is higher than the critical pressure, water is in a special state, which is known as the supercritical fluid state. A supercritical fluid is a fluid that is at pressures higher than its thermodynamic critical values. At the critical and supercritical pressures, a fluid is considered a single-phase substance, although all thermophysical properties undergo significant changes within the critical and pseudocritical regions.

For water, the critical  parameters are the following:

  • Pcr = 22.09 MPa
  • Tcr = 374.14 °C (or 647.3 K)
  • vcr = 0.003155 m3/kg
  • uf = ug = 2014 kJ/kg
  • hf = hg = 2084 kJ/kg
  • sf = sg =4.406 kJ/kg K

See also: Critical Point of Water

See also: Supercritical Fluid

 
References:
Reactor Physics and Thermal Hydraulics:
  1. J. R. Lamarsh, Introduction to Nuclear Reactor Theory, 2nd ed., Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA (1983).
  2. J. R. Lamarsh, A. J. Baratta, Introduction to Nuclear Engineering, 3d ed., Prentice-Hall, 2001, ISBN: 0-201-82498-1.
  3. W. M. Stacey, Nuclear Reactor Physics, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, ISBN: 0- 471-39127-1.
  4. Glasstone, Sesonske. Nuclear Reactor Engineering: Reactor Systems Engineering, Springer; 4th edition, 1994, ISBN: 978-0412985317
  5. Todreas Neil E., Kazimi Mujid S. Nuclear Systems Volume I: Thermal Hydraulic Fundamentals, Second Edition. CRC Press; 2 edition, 2012, ISBN: 978-0415802871
  6. Zohuri B., McDaniel P. Thermodynamics in Nuclear Power Plant Systems. Springer; 2015, ISBN: 978-3-319-13419-2
  7. Moran Michal J., Shapiro Howard N. Fundamentals of Engineering Thermodynamics, Fifth Edition, John Wiley & Sons, 2006, ISBN: 978-0-470-03037-0
  8. Kleinstreuer C. Modern Fluid Dynamics. Springer, 2010, ISBN 978-1-4020-8670-0.
  9. U.S. Department of Energy, THERMODYNAMICS, HEAT TRANSFER, AND FLUID FLOW. DOE Fundamentals Handbook, Volume 1, 2, and 3. June 1992.

See above:

Pressure